Photos in iMessage disappeared after ios13 update

Fantastic that Apple doesn't even reply and acknowledge the problem and say they are working on it.

I have gotten the photos back by downloading in Info/download at the bottom, but still I can only see them in the message thread, and not under "Info" where they normally are, and where you quickly want to find a photo, instead of scrolling one year back which takes ages and you have no clue when it was sent.

I agree - mine are all still within the message thread, just not under "info". 13.6 has not solved the problem for me. When I toggle Messages to "off" under iCloud in settings I get this message: "Messages have not been fully downloaded to this iPhone" and I can select "Disable and Download Messages". My phone then pretends to download the attachments/images but no matter how long I wait (plugged in, connected to wifi) nothing changes. Then when I toggle it back on, nothing changes again. There is clearly a connection issue here between our iCloud accounts and our phones. I really just wish they would fix it especially since many of us have spent hours of our time and reported this all the way up to the engineers at Apple.

Hi,

I have been having the same issue. My friend suggested a great solution to this problem which is to just screen record the audio message. I know it is not ideal but it is a lot easier than resetting your phone or trying to find a loophole (which I spent a while doing).

I hope this helps!

Hello guys, I am facing the same issue with iMessage on iOS for a long time and was looking for a solution in order to fix it and get my photos back. If i visit a chat and click on »i« and scroll down, then I iMessage offers me to download the photos from iCloud (like the recommended post (user "AHall4" on Sep 20. 2019) in this topic already shows). It is loading a few min and seems to not respond. But then … it will do nothing. No photos are loaded, or at least none of them are shown.

My Solution! (Especially for those of you guys who have a high emotional attachment to the photos.)

In case you own a Mac (needs to be synchronized with iCloud): go to iMessage, "Details" and there are all your photos. It worked for me. And I was able to export the important photos or move them directly to my synchronized "photos".

Sorry, if this was already suggested. I don't wanna read all 27 Pages in this topic. However, maybe it will help someone ;)

Hi,

That’s great that worked for you. Do you think the steps you did will also work for me? My problem is slightly different my photos for some reason have turned grey and say zero kb and when I click on my messages in iCloud it also says zero kb but however I can see all my photos in my camera roll/ photo library. Help how can I get all my photos back to see?

Hi, would the steps you did also work for me all my photos I could see fine in iMessage on my new iPhone XS after transferring from my old phone then I reset all settings on my phone and then suddenly most of my photos and videos in iMessage turned grey and say zero kb so will what you did work and make my photos come back?

Hi my problem isn’t after the ios13 update. My photo just started to make my photos and videos in iMessages grey and say zero kb and then also some photos say click to download images in iCloud. Do you think what you did to fix the photos will work for me too? Please help

I just noticed this issue after updating to 13.6. I called Apple Support and they seemed to think this was a new issue; told me it was the amount of space I had which was completely wrong. I confirmed via screen sharing that my settings:

-iCloud backup turned on

-message settings> keep iMessages “FOREVER” and audio messages “KEEP FOREVER”

When I’d look at the details of an iMessage (“i”), it used to show me thumbnails of photos sent/received. Now it just shows “attachments” with a “download” link/button. I’ll click on the link. Shows “downloading...” Then it will revert to “Download” link. I’ll click again. Eventually, the entire “attachments” section disappears. I’m scared I’m losing all these photos!!! So I turned off iCloud backup.

iphone had >5GB space

icloud has >60GB space (I pay for 200GB)

CSRs kept saying iMessage photos are available via iCloud.com. I tried explaining that they’re not. They had me restart my phone. Same issue

Then a senior advisor had me “offload unused apps” b/c she said it was a space issue. Then she told me it was b/c I was using 134GB/200GB iCloud space and the processor has to “think” to find my photos. What a load of BS

She finally said she’d submit a ticket to engineering. Said she’d update me the next week (today) and still no update.

This clearly has been a long-standing issue caused by the iOS updates and Apple *still* isn’t taking it seriously. What’s the point of paying $1k on a phone and extra for iCloud space, only to have it not work???

Here’s the sad truth. It can’t be fixed if you (like me) are unlucky enough to have the issue. I did a hardware swap and it didn’t help. I’ve setup the phone as new and it didn’t help.

I can see the missing info in other devices I have, but not my phone. So I know it’s in the cloud.

Apple is aware of the issue - they’ve confirmed that to me, but also said it’s not super high priority to fix - it’s relatively uncommon.

I’m hoping iOS 14 will fix it, and if not maybe a new model phone, whenever I decide to upgrade again (probably a couple years).

It is annoying, having purchased the top phone they offered two years ago and paying for storage - but I won’t spend anymore time trying to sort out. Only some sort of class action would get them to address at this point as it is an important function that we’ve paid for and are not getting - but honestly who has the time or energy to pursue the issue to that level.

thanks for replying @vanhalen26. i've now spent >10hrs with apple support without success. the SAs seem annoyed theyve had to deal with me this long. you're right- the lower level tech support reps (and even 1 senior advisor) were unaware this was even an issue. they kept trying to tell me to go to icloud.com to access photos. i had to try to explain my issue was the imessage photos. 2 other senior advisors were aware of the issue, but havent been able to fix my prob. i'm convinced it's a cloud (or mb iOS) issue.

the only things i havent tried are signing in with my apple ID on a diff, "new"/erased device and see if my imessages and imessage photos load. i also havent tried erasing my phone, setting it up as new, and restoring from icloud. it sounds like you have without success. thanks for sharing. SA also says it might be a wifi/network issue and without me going onto a diff wifi network, they cant really diagnose my prob (which is BS IMHO). sorry but not going to expose myself to COVID to get on a diff wifi network.

my senior advisor seems reluctant to reach out again to engineering. he seems to think it's a content issue (like an app?). i tried explaining it's likely related to software or the icloud. he says not many people are experiencing this prob. i explained that i wasnt even aware it was an issue until last week when i tried retrieving a video i sent my mom.

like you, i can see older imessages and some of those imessage photos on my older gen ipad. unfortunately, it's older and apple doesnt update iOS on older gen. the SA says before iOS 11 imessage was handled differently. technically, those imessages arent backed up to icloud like they are now (handled similarly to iphoto optimization). since it's an older gen ipad, the SA says seeing my imessages/imessage photos on the ipad dont really mean anything. sounds like an excuse to me.

i wonder if other people have this issue and just haven't noticed. i honestly doubt iOS 14 will fix this prob. updating iOS seems to cause issues. im very annoyed and frustrated ive wasted so much time/energy trying to get this fixed. ive lost many memories (messages, photos) of a dear friend who passed a couple years ago. i was looking forward to the new iphone (coming in october?), but what's the point of upgrading and paying for icloud space if i wont be able to use apple's services properly.

unsuccessful solutions ive tried:

-restarting my phone

-DFU to re-install ios 13.7

-signing out of appleID and signing back in

-resetting network settings

-turning off imessage backup to icloud (similar to turning off iphoto optimization and having all imessages stored locally on my phone)

-freeing up >20GB of space on my iphone

i have a follow up call scheduled for sunday. hopefully, the SA will reach out to engineering instead of wasting my time trying solutions others have tried.

I know it’s frustrating. It has something to do with when you’ve updated the iOS. When I swapped my hardware recently hoping it would rectify the issue (XS Max), it seemed to reset what pics I could see in the info tab - making the restore date my new day 1, and I couldn’t see anything prior in that.

Im hoping iOS 14 fixes it as I said, or failing that a new generation phone one day ... but I’m not going to bother troubleshooting any longer. I’ve wasted enough time and believe it requires a software fix on apples side. Poor service for sure for such a premium phone in combo with paying for storage (I have over 30GB in pics in the cloud that I can’t see - but I keep paying for the storage hoping that one day it will be accessible again).

just got off the phone w/ my SA. he said iOS 14 officially will release tomorrow. depending on how the batches are pushed, you may see the new iOS 14 available tomorrow or later this week. i'm going to wait a day or two to see if anyone complains about new bugs before installing it onto my device.

i agree - apple does a crap job responding to our issues. why are we paying a premium for nice phones and extra cloud space if they don't work!! if the new iOS doesn't fix my problems (6 separate issues w/ imessage/photos), then i'm not going to buy the new iphone that gets released in october (iphone 12?).

appreciate the info you provided

i updated to iOS 14 and *STILL* cant load all photos.

in the "details" section:

-photos missing

-links missing

in the actual message itself (scrolling up):

-photos can no longer be downloaded. generic, unclickable jpg/jpeg/png icon

-imessage history doesnt go back far enough. only goes back to may 2018 even though my imessage setting has been NEVER EXPIRE/keep messages FOREVER. imessages go back to 2012 on my ipad (same apple ID)

my senior advisor closed my case even though i continue to experience issues. he hasn't replied back to me for a week now, even with multiple inquiries.

very disappointed in apple's customer service and lack of a solution.

you should reach out to apple. ive been working with them since sept 1, 2020. this is a known issue (since sept 2019) that hasnt been fixed because not enough ppl are experiencing it. i think ppl just havent noticed it so its underreported.

if you want apple engineers to fix it, you need to contact apple. otherwise, theyre not going to waste time/money fixing it.

this didn't help me. what ended up happening for me -- after clicking "download," it would show "downloading...."

then it went back to the original "download from icloud" link.

eventually, the entire section (attachments, links) DISAPPEARED. i can scroll through the message and see photos/links, but going to "details" there's a blank spot where the "attachments" and "links" section should be.